The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-07-07
Correspondence OF the FLoRIDrAH.1
Frem Middle FisriAa 90 Middle
TAnma1seA.


From S4idate EioriAa 90 Middle
Tennessee.
ride Of eighteen hours brought us from
Townsville to Columbia, Tenn. Even with a
stage ride northwsrd through Leon county the
route Is shorter aud plessanter this way than .pv
other. With . railroad would be doub,v a.
Leaving Thomasville an hour before midn;ub,
In comfortable "sleeper" we are ut Mnnte,,m.
cry at breakfast, and soon after are in the grand
new depot just bnilt at busy, bustling Birmlng
ham, This depot h the finest we have seen in
the South, and its trestles and arches are ali ,f
iron A colored band dscourses Dixie and
the " Sweet Bye and Bye" % rs We roll into the
station A hundred hacks omnibuses and noisv
drummers are awaiting their patrons outside
the iron railing.
The smeliers and blast furnaces of Birmingham
are sn"ring putting and steaming and it makes
the tourist use his fan more vigorously simply TO
look ut them. "
Decatur is reached at dinner This citv. like
birmingham, is also on BOOM" English
capitalists have Just decided 10 rs,ah,,sh ,h.
largest rolling mill and car manufactorv i, the
Country a, this point. All the L. s N. r r. in.
teress Will centre here. Real estate has zone
up within u fortnight like the mercury on a sum.
mrr day. '
The mountainous region of Middle Tennessee
Is reached in the afternoon We pass ,brouph
rocky cuts and deies and over MANY a {" iict
l's', 'res'ie-wnrk bridge, aud through An un-
enh'ng series "f hills and dales rs fertile as they
are picturesque, until the whistle sounds down
prnKes' anu at . O'Clock We stop NJ Columbia
Inc climate among these rocky hills and pop
lar f"res's is simply delightful T-nn-sSee hs,
the genial weather ofthe Sunny South without
the winter bzzards Of the frozen North. II oc.
cupies middle ground. II has the warmth with.
out ihe lassitntie and malaria, and it has the
co"i, Crisp weather which is exhilarating with
OUT Killing IN its severity. The winter isonly
TWO months, and the summer is long enouyh ,o
mature all southern crops W.
Ihls section is destined to have a great future
us agriculturhi and mineral resources are nm
llmiled, and its farms are the most splenddIv
Kept "f any we have seen in the South Fruits
anu vege'anrs are abundant and of excellent
quality. Fields of ripening grain-wheat rve
ana "nts-stretch away for miles through ,he
'lleys, and the Buckeye mowers and Te,n.rs
are Al work NJ adows of blue grass and lnxn
rant red clover, knee Deep cover the hill SLOPES
WIN mantle of richness and vcrdure Jersey
O'Von ana Hostein cattle are seen ON a thOu
sand hills. Thoroughbred stock ia the rule and
not the exception. Some of these cows are i'm.
mense' and give milk enough to float a public
Middle Tennessee is destined TO do for the ran
ldly increasing population of BIRMINGHAM and
Central Alabama what Middle Florida ouoht
70 90 Tor the rapidly Increasing population of
south Florida, viz. supply all The dairy products
beef and vegetables as well rs hay, oats and for,
age. r. qured by the localities menlioned
The county of Mnury, I'm which the CITY of Co.
lnmbM is situated, is like the lannon's Counties -,
Lancaster and Delaware, in Pepnsvivania. In
fhcf we would almost imagine ourselves 10 he i'm
the latter State were II not for the occasional
cotton fields 10 be seen. This is also the section
thai supplies the Cult States with naules More
mules are shipped from here than from any
county in the South
Columbia lies at the foot Of Mount P.rn,ss,e
on the summit of which, 300 feet above th.
court house square, are the water works-a res.
ervolr cut in The solid rock An engine and
steam pumps near the Duck river supplies the
reservoir which in turn distributes the water in
pipes throughout the city. Excavations on the
hillside disclose immense quantities of fossils and
peirified shells, showing that these rocky hills
were once under the sea- The view from the
top of Mount Parnassus commands an nDbroken
panorama OF fifty miles in extent. There are
fifteen miles "t macadamized roads around the
city, aud the drives carry one throuuh groves
of oak, poplar and black walnut.
Some of the drives are through natural marks
where every turn reveals some new beauty of
wooded giens where luxurant lawns of blue
grass sweep in graceful curves up the Hillside.
and near some rocky precipice rise giant poplars
100 feet and more in height
AT other times we pHSS through fen or fifteen
miles of model farms, where the fields are 80
smooth as parlor floor the barns as big as hotels
and the neat gates and fences are all painted and
whitewashed.
The educational advantages of this section are
the nnest IN the South. There are two young
ladies institutes at Columbia, OF a high grade
several colleges and high schools 10 neighborine
towns, besides the Vanderbilt University and
other educational institutions at Nashville, forty
miles to the north. E. w C
Special to the Times Democrat